‘Garden village’ on the cards
Police object to safety plan
Continued from page one But a purpose-built village,
with homes for the elderly, af- fordable and social housing, with amenities, could fulfil a variety of requirements. A Watford company has put together a plan for an “eco-vil- lage” at Broomfield which it says could be the key to fund- ing the Leeds-Langley bypass. Now, a second scheme, pro- duced by PRP Architects for GoldingHomes, details propos- als for a £1 billion self-con- tained community next to Leeds and Otham which would create a “garden suburb” offer- ing housing and employment. It is understood several landowners would bewilling to sell land to support the new sustainable development. As with the first scheme, the devel- opment could act as a catalyst for the Leeds-Langley bypass and encourage further invest- ment close to J8 of the M20. The scheme is backed by Golding Homes, which man- ages most of the town’s social housing. Their director of de- velopment and regeneration, Chris Blundell, said the village would help Maidstone achieve its housing targets. The council will make a deci-
sion on building sites at Her- mitage Lane and Langley in March.
TRAFFIC cops are being taken to task by councillors over a se- ries of schemes to improve road safety in Maidstone. The Chief Constable of Kent is
to be asked to explain what can and cannot be enforced. The joint transportation board
wants to impose a number of road restrictions to ease traffic flows and make roads safer for drivers and pedestrians, but members heard the police had raised objections, saying they could not enforce the measures proposed. Residents of Marigold Way, Barming, say cars use it as a rat run between Tonbridge Road, Queens Road and Hermitage Lane. KCC would like to impose a one-way order and, while no residents objected, the police
were strongly opposed. An exasperated Cllr Dan
Daley said: “This has been going on for two years. It always disappoints me when the police say they cannot enforce traffic regulations.” Officers said they had been looking at the costs of installing “No through road” signs and carriageway markings. Cllr Daley said: “I think this
will do the job. If it is flouted, or impossible to maintain, we can have a re-think.” Supporting Cllr Daley, Cllr
JohnWilson said he would like the police to attend a meeting to explain their rationale. JTB chairman Cllr Gary Cooke
said: “It is unacceptable that the police can hold us to ransom over what can be done.”
KCC Cllr Rob Bird said: “If we
took notice of what the police can and cannot enforce, Dick Turpin would still be riding!” Cllr Daley said: “We are here
to put things in place; they are there to uphold the law. Let’s get the chief constable to ex- plain what can and cannot be enforced.” It was agreed the police chief,
Ian Learmonth, would be in- vited to a future meeting of the JTB when he could be quizzed by the board members about up- holding the traffic laws. Since the Maidstone joint transportation board meeting, Kent Police has been made aware of the concerns and a spokesman said they looked for- ward to being able to respond to councillors in due course.
Researcher “most inspiring”
AMAIDSTONE academic has been named as one of the most inspiring women of 2012. Dr Rachel Armstrong (46), from Loose, is a researcher at the advanced
virtual and technological architecture research laboratory at the Univer- sity of Greenwich. She features inwomen’s lifestyle and technologyweb- site Chip Chick’s top nine inspiringwomen of 2012. Thearticle praisesRachel’swork innewtechnologies suchas synthetic biology, which combines science and engineering to create newmateri- als which can have a positive impact on the environment. Rachel has also been nominated in theBritish Science Fiction Associ-
ationawards forher Kindle short book, LivingArchitecture:Howsynthetic biology can remake our cities and reshape our lives. Rachel said: “It is very flattering to be listed in such grand company and it’s especially nice to see the book recognised.”
4 Town
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